A property of pseudofinite groups Daniel Palac´ ın Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Joint work with Nadja Hempel) B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 1 / 13
Pseudofinite groups: Definition and examples Definition A group G is pseudofinite if it is an infinite model of the first-order theory of finite groups. An infinite group G is pseudofinite iff it is elementarily equivalent to a non-principal ultraproduct of finite groups. Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 2 / 13
Pseudofinite groups: Definition and examples Definition A group G is pseudofinite if it is an infinite model of the first-order theory of finite groups. An infinite group G is pseudofinite iff it is elementarily equivalent to a non-principal ultraproduct of finite groups. Similarly, one can define the concept of pseudofinite field. Examples are torsion-free divisible abelian groups, infinite extraspecial p -groups of odd exponent p , general linear groups over a pseudofinite field,. . . Non-examples are ( Z , +), free groups, infinite dihedral subgroup, Higman group, . . . Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 2 / 13
The role of centralizer To study what impact have centralizers on the structure of pseudofinite groups. Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 3 / 13
The role of centralizer To study what impact have centralizers on the structure of pseudofinite groups. Theorem (Burnside) Any finite group admitting a fixed-point-free involutory automorphism is abelian. Theorem (Brauer and Fowler, ’55) There are only a finite number of finite simple groups with a given centralizer of an involution. Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 3 / 13
Infinite abelian subgroup Theorem (Hempel, P.) A pseudofinite group has an infinite abelian subgroup. Main ingredients are: The Feit-Thompson Theorem: A finite group without an involution is solvable. Basic notions and techniques from infinite group theory. Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 4 / 13
FC-center The FC-center of a group G is defined as FC ( G ) = { x ∈ G : [ G : C G ( x )] is finite } . Equivalently, for any x in G : x ∈ FC ( G ) iff x G is finite. Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 5 / 13
FC-center The FC-center of a group G is defined as FC ( G ) = { x ∈ G : [ G : C G ( x )] is finite } . Equivalently, for any x in G : x ∈ FC ( G ) iff x G is finite. It is a characteristic subgroup and its derived subgroup FC ( G ) ′ is a periodic subgroup. If there exists a natural number k such that FC ( G ) = { x ∈ G : [ G : C G ( x )] ≤ k } , then FC ( G ) ′ is finite (i.e. the group FC ( G ) is finite-by-abelian). Example ( G = FC ( G )) 1 Infinite direct sum of finite non-abelian groups. 2 An infinite extraspecial p -group of odd exponent p . Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 5 / 13
Main Lemma Lemma If G is a pseudofinite group containing an involution i with a finite centralizer, then either C G ( i ) ∩ FC ( G ) contains an involution or G = C G ( i ) · FC ( G ) . Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 6 / 13
Main Lemma Lemma If G is a pseudofinite group containing an involution i with a finite centralizer, then either C G ( i ) ∩ FC ( G ) contains an involution or G = C G ( i ) · FC ( G ) . Idea of the proof . Set I ( x ) to denote the set of involutions in C G ( x ), and for any g ∈ G , let X g be the finite set I ( i ) ∪ I ( i g ) ∪ g − 1 C G ( i ) ∪ C G ( i ) g C G ( i ) . Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 6 / 13
Main Lemma Lemma If G is a pseudofinite group containing an involution i with a finite centralizer, then either C G ( i ) ∩ FC ( G ) contains an involution or G = C G ( i ) · FC ( G ) . Idea of the proof . Set I ( x ) to denote the set of involutions in C G ( x ), and for any g ∈ G , let X g be the finite set I ( i ) ∪ I ( i g ) ∪ g − 1 C G ( i ) ∪ C G ( i ) g C G ( i ) . Using the fact that any two involutions are either conjugate or have an involution centralizing both of them, show that for any h ∈ G the set X g ∩ X h g � = ∅ . a , b ∈ X g { u ∈ G : a u = b } . Thus G = � Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 6 / 13
Main Lemma Lemma If G is a pseudofinite group containing an involution i with a finite centralizer, then either C G ( i ) ∩ FC ( G ) contains an involution or G = C G ( i ) · FC ( G ) . Idea of the proof . Set I ( x ) to denote the set of involutions in C G ( x ), and for any g ∈ G , let X g be the finite set I ( i ) ∪ I ( i g ) ∪ g − 1 C G ( i ) ∪ C G ( i ) g C G ( i ) . Using the fact that any two involutions are either conjugate or have an involution centralizing both of them, show that for any h ∈ G the set X g ∩ X h g � = ∅ . a , b ∈ X g { u ∈ G : a u = b } . Thus G = � Then X g ∩ FC ( G ) � = ∅ by a lemma of B. H. Neumann. Note: either I ( i ) ∩ FC ( G ) � = ∅ or g − 1 C G ( i ) ∩ FC ( G ) � = ∅ . Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 6 / 13
Proof of the Theorem First show that a pseudofinite group G has a non-trivial element with an infinite centralizer: Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 7 / 13
Proof of the Theorem First show that a pseudofinite group G has a non-trivial element with an infinite centralizer: Suppose not. By the Main Lemma, the infinite group G has no involution. Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 7 / 13
Proof of the Theorem First show that a pseudofinite group G has a non-trivial element with an infinite centralizer: Suppose not. By the Main Lemma, the infinite group G has no involution. By the Feit-Thompson Theorem, in any finite group F without involutions there is a non-trivial element x that commutes with all its conjugates, i.e. � x F � is abelian. Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 7 / 13
Proof of the Theorem First show that a pseudofinite group G has a non-trivial element with an infinite centralizer: Suppose not. By the Main Lemma, the infinite group G has no involution. By the Feit-Thompson Theorem, in any finite group F without involutions there is a non-trivial element x that commutes with all its conjugates, i.e. � x F � is abelian. As G is pseudofinite, there exists some non-trivial h ∈ G such that h G ⊆ C G ( h ), yielding that G / C G ( h ) is finite and so is G , a contradiction. Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 7 / 13
Proof of the Theorem (cont.) Without loss of generality, assume G is periodic. Let x 0 be an element of G with infinite centralizer. Consider the pseudo-finite group G 0 = C G ( x 0 ) / � x 0 � and apply the first step to find an element x 1 in C G ( x 0 ) whose class ¯ x 1 in G 0 is non-trivial and has an infinite centralizer. Note: Since x 0 and x 1 commute, the group � x 0 , x 1 � is finite. Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 8 / 13
Proof of the Theorem (cont.) Without loss of generality, assume G is periodic. Let x 0 be an element of G with infinite centralizer. Consider the pseudo-finite group G 0 = C G ( x 0 ) / � x 0 � and apply the first step to find an element x 1 in C G ( x 0 ) whose class ¯ x 1 in G 0 is non-trivial and has an infinite centralizer. Note: Since x 0 and x 1 commute, the group � x 0 , x 1 � is finite. Set G 1 = C G ( x 0 , x 1 ) / � x 0 , x 1 � and apply the first part to find an element x 2 in C G ( x 0 , x 1 ) whose class ¯ x 2 in G 1 is non-trivial and has again an infinite centralizer. Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 8 / 13
Proof of the Theorem (cont.) Without loss of generality, assume G is periodic. Let x 0 be an element of G with infinite centralizer. Consider the pseudo-finite group G 0 = C G ( x 0 ) / � x 0 � and apply the first step to find an element x 1 in C G ( x 0 ) whose class ¯ x 1 in G 0 is non-trivial and has an infinite centralizer. Note: Since x 0 and x 1 commute, the group � x 0 , x 1 � is finite. Set G 1 = C G ( x 0 , x 1 ) / � x 0 , x 1 � and apply the first part to find an element x 2 in C G ( x 0 , x 1 ) whose class ¯ x 2 in G 1 is non-trivial and has again an infinite centralizer. Iterating this process . . . We find infinitely many elements x 0 , x 1 , x 2 , . . . that generate an infinite abelian subgroup. Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 8 / 13
Comments and remarks It is reasonable to use the Feit-Thompson Theorem since it is also needed to show the existence of an infinite abelian subgroup in a locally finite group (due to Hall and Kulatilaka). The proof is surprisingly easy compared to the existence of an infinite abelian subgroup in any profinite group! Daniel Palac´ ın A property of pseudofinite groups B¸ edlewo, Poland, July 2017 9 / 13
Recommend
More recommend
